The Missing Link
by PrincessBellePrinceAdam
Summary: [Operation Overdrive] A daughter asks her mother about the missing man in their lives. Rock oneshot.


Disclaimer/Notes: Still not mine… #mumbles# Anyway, I don't know what the whole big secret about Mack is (obviously) but my theory is that he's sick. I dislike the robot theory. How the hell are he and Rose supposed to have kids if he's a robot? So…obsessed fangirl/writer that I am, I came up with this. By the end of OO, it may be AU…it may not. We'll find out in November, won't we?

**The Missing Link**

Rose followed her five-year-old up the stairs. "Did you brush your teeth, Jamie?" she asked as Jamie skipped down the hallway to her bedroom.

"Yes I did, Mommy," Jamie answered, picking up her hairbrush and settling herself on her princess themed bed. Rose sat beside her daughter, taking the brush and running it through Jamie's straight black hair. She pulled it into a neat braid.

"Good. Do you want to hear a story tonight before bed?" Her daughter nodded eagerly. The little girl took the hairbrush back and put on top of the dresser as Rose pulled back the soft pink blanket and sheets. Jamie bounded across her room and snuggled into her bed.

"I do want a story, Mommy," replied Jamie. "Yes. Jamie wants a story." Rose crossed to the small bookshelf. Jamie, though only five, was truly her parents' daughter, and the shelves were crammed with picture books and simple chapter books.

"Which one do you want to hear? I have Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Cinderella…" She looked over at Jamie, waiting for her to answer.

"No, Mommy, I don't want a princess story," Jamie protested. "I want one of _your_ stories."

"I see," Rose said, crossing the room again. "One of the stories about my old ranger days, then? How about the time I was a pirate?"

Jamie shook her head. "Tell me about Daddy." Rose's face fell. She could not blame Jamie for being curious about the father who wasn't around, but she'd hoped it wouldn't come up for a few more years. It hurt to talk about Mack.

"Oh sweetheart," she murmured. "It's hard for me to talk about him, Jamie. I miss him very much." Jamie nodded, but the look in her blue eyes was determined. Rose knew she wasn't going to leave without telling Jamie about her father. The former pink ranger sighed. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything," Jamie answered promptly. "How did you and Daddy meet?"

Rose made herself comfy on the edge of her daughter's bed. "We were rangers together, you know. I was pink and he was red. Originally he wasn't supposed to be a ranger but when he helped us successfully complete a mission his father changed his mind."

"Was Daddy a good ranger? Did he keep you and the world safe?"

"Yes, he did, Jamie. He was a wonderful ranger, a good leader and an even better friend. I didn't always fit in, even with the other rangers, but Daddy always included me. He was my best friend in the whole world."

Jamie was smiling now. "I bet he loved you lots, Mommy." Rose grinned an identical smile. She touched the wedding ring on her finger, nodding.

"Yes, he did," Rose said softly. Jamie realized she had upset her mother.

"Mommy…don't be so sad." She reached her tiny arms up, locking them around Rose's neck. Rose held her daughter as tightly as she could manage.

"I'm not sad. I have you, don't I?" Rose settled Jamie amongst the pillows. "Where was I? Oh yes…Daddy was my best friend. But towards the end of our ranger careers, he told us he was sick and that his life was only going to be a few years longer, if that. And I knew if I didn't tell him how I really felt soon, I was going to miss my chance. When the world was safe again we got married."

Jamie was looking up at her still. "Did he get to see me at all, Mommy?" There were tears pooling in Jamie's blue eyes now. Rose shook her head.

"No sweetheart, he didn't. I was still pregnant with you when he…when he died. But he knew he had a little girl on the way, and he would have adored you. I promise. You were his little girl, Jamie. He wanted a family, and that's why he fought. And don't forget it."

Jamie yawned, nodding. "Daddy loved us, then. That was all I needed to hear, Mommy." Rose inwardly marveled at how intelligent Jamie sounded, very beyond her five years. "Good night, Mommy."

Rose leaned down and kissed Jamie's forehead. "Good night, Jamie."


End file.
